Sunday, December 23, 2007

PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS WITH PECANS AND DRIED CRANBERRIES

WISHING YOU ALL A JOYOUS HOLIDAY SEASON, AND TRUE PEACE IN THE NEW YEAR!

This will be the last blog for a week or so, as I have lots of family coming tomorrow, and then DH and I go to Vancouver for a couple of days. We're just getting together to have a good time together, eat good food, and enjoy some down time. DH and I just put the tree and lights up yesterday. Presents are only for the grandchildren-- no orgy of spending!

Here's a little gift for you-- these rolls are lovely for a holiday breakfast!

These light cinnamon rolls have the goodness of pureed pumpkin swirled in with the usual cinnamon-sugar mix. The dough is easily made in your bread machine. AND there is less than 1 tsp. of vegan butter in each roll! PS: If you prefer, you can knead with a stand mixer or by hand (but don't add too much flour while kneading-- oil your hands and the kneading surface if necessary)

TO MAKE THE DOUGH:
place the dough ingredients in your bread machine in the order given, cover and set on the dough cycle.

Meanwhile, make the filling:
Combine the brown sugar and Earth Balance well, then stir in the pumpkin and cinnamon. Set aside.

To assemble:
When the Dough Cycle is finished, remove the dough and, on lightly floured cooking parchment, roll out the dough into an 18 x 13-inch rectangle. Spread the Filling to within 1 inch of the long sides. Sprinkle with the pecans and cranberries. Roll up the dough like a jelly roll, folding the long side nearest you in and rolling away from you. Seal the edges.

With a sharp serrated knife, cut the cylinder in half, then cut each half into 12 rolls.

Place the rolls cut-side-down in a greased 10x17-inch baking pan. Cover and rise in a warm place until doubled.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake the risen rolls for about 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool slightly on a rack. Mix the Glaze ingredients together and drizzle over the warm rolls. Serve warm.

I made these over the weekend... do not currently have a bread machine so made the dough by hand, kneaded for five minutes, put in oiled bowl and in fridge overnight. Early next morning I stretched the dough out (took a while!) and then made finished off the rolls. Back in the fridge while I went for a walk - and then I baked them in two pans as I did not have a large enough pan for all of them. I have to confess that I added some Earth Balance equivalent (I am in South Africa) to the frosting/glaze... and everyone who ate them drooled over them... the pumpkin really makes them moist and rich tasting! Thanks so much for sharing this!

Would they freeze well? If so at what stage would you suggest freezing them? I have had lots of pleas to make these again but I don't want to make them and leave them around as I know I will eat them!! If I can freeze them I can just take out what my husband wants to eat - better for my waistline :)

Maureen, they freeze well, like most breads. You can freeze them after baking, OR after you have rolled them and placed them in the pans.

Here is some aadvice from Bread Digest:

Once you have the dough shaped you want to freeze it immediately. Do not let it raise, some rise will occur in the freezer before the dough freezes, this is fine and can't be prevented. But, besides this slight rise during freezing you don't want to let the shaped dough set out side the freezer for any length of time.

I recommend for rolls and such that you freeze them on cookie or baking sheets and then package them. This allows you to just pull out the number of rolls or whatever you need without having to take out more than you need.

For loaf bread I recommend that when possible you freeze the dough in the lightly greased pan you will bake it in. This ensures it will fit when you get ready to use it; it also saves you the time of having to dig out a pan and grease it. Once the dough in the pan is frozen just package the whole thing and when you need loaf bread it is all ready to go.

If you don't have enough spare loaf pans to do this then at least freeze the dough in the pan and then remove it and package it. This ensures that the dough will fit in the pan when it comes time to thaw and bake it.

Packaging the Frozen Dough

Once the dough has been frozen you need to package it for long term freezing. I recommend using heavy duty 1 gallon freezer grade zip-lock bags. I also recommend that you wrap each piece of dough in wax paper and then place in the zip-lock bag.

Frozen dough should be used with in 3 months. So keep this in mind when deciding how much to make ahead. It is also a good idea to mark on the package what it is, and when it was frozen.

Using the Frozen Dough

Rolls and Other Shapes

For rolls and such remove what you need from the freezer and place on a lightly greased baking sheet or a parchment lined baking sheet, cover it with loose fitting plastic wrap (to keep the dough from drying out), remember the dough will rise so leave enough space for the dough to do so and don't put the plastic on tight. You also might want to spray the plastic with pan spray to keep the dough from sticking to the plastic once it has risen.

Allow the dough to defrost and come to room temperature and rise. If you pull the dough out in the morning and place it on a pan before leaving for work, by the time you come home that night it should be ready.

Keep in mind that smaller pieces of dough will thaw, warm and rise faster than larger ones. If you have something like small dinner rolls then allowing an 8 hour thaw, warm and rise time could cause them to over rise and collapse by the time you get home. For small pieces of dough I recommend removing the dough from the freezer and placing on a greased pan the night before. Place the pan with the frozen dough in the refrigerator and allow it to slow thaw all that night and day then when you get home from work remove it and allow it warm and rise for an hour or so and then bake. You can try either method and see how it works for you.

Once the dough has thawed and risen bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.

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